Galatasaray beat Red Star Belgrade 74-65 in Group E of the Euroleague Top 16, on a night where both teams paid tribute to fan Marko Ivkovic, who was killed in Istanbul back in December.
The win improved Galatasaray to 2-1 and a share of second place in Group E, while Red Star remains winless in the Top 16. No team had more than a six-point advantage for 35 minutes during which the teams kept trading leads. The Turkish visitors managed to hang on though for the win.
“Our goal tonight was not only to win the game but to show our sportsmanship,” Galatasaray coach Ergin Ataman. “It was such a hard game to us because we were loaded and the atmosphere before the game was specific. But we played our best game this season so far.
“We failed to defend Marjanovic but we managed to limit Mitrovic and Williams. In second half we were concentrated on the game and played much more aggressive on offense. [Red Star] is young and talented team and I see their players suffer because of the loss.”
Vladmir Micov led the wines with 12 points. Bojan Marjanovic collected 18 points plus 7 rebounds for Red Star.
Video of the pre-game tribute to Red Star fan Marko Ivkovic:
Olympiacos remains unbeaten at 3-0 and is level on top of the table with CSKA Moscow in Group F after they beat Fenerbahce 74-68 in Istanbul.
Matt Lojeski paced the winners with 18 points. Vassilis Spanoulis added 16 and rescued his team in crunch time with six unanswered points towards the end as the hosts were looking to inflict their first loss of the second round.
“It was a tough game,” Lojeski said. “They are a good team. We stayed closed and, in the end, we pulled it out.”
Andrew Goudelock led Fenerbahce with a game-high 23 points, but his side drop to 1-2 as a result.
Staying with Group F and EA7 Milano secured their first win of the Top 16 as they beat Unicaja Malaga 84-77 on the road as the Italian champions go to 1-2 and Unicaja remain winless.
Alessandro Gentile paced the winners with 20 points. Linas Kleiza added 15, including back-to-back three-point shots late in the fourth period.
Laboral Kutxa came from behind to beat Nizhny Novgorod 81-74 in Group F. The Liga Endesa were 5 points down late in the fourth but finished strong to get a vital win and move to 1-2.
Mike James was Laboral’s top scorer with 14 points, including a clutch triple late in the fourth to eventually ice the game.
“It’s clear that this was not our best game on offence, but it was also because Nizhny did a great job and deserves credit for that,” Vitoria coach Ibon Navarro said.
Taylor Rochestie led all scorers For Nizhny with 24 points, including six three-pointers, but was all in vain.
Panathinaikos comfortably saw-off Zalgiris 77-58 in Athens in Group E, as they extend their unbeaten run against their Lithuanian counterparts to nine games.
Nikos Pappas led the way off the bench for the Greens with 14 points as they move to 2-1. Will Cherry led Zalgiris with 13 points, as the team’s leading scorer James Anderson was held to just 5 points.
